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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24694633">Flowers in Time</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/waffluuu/pseuds/waffluuu'>waffluuu</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>A Hat in Time (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>A Hat in Time AU, AU, Alternate Universe, Dadtcher, Doppelganger, Gen, Mafia Town, Swearing, Time - Freeform, also on Wattpad, lol hey lets destroy timelines, slow start, trust me all the good stuff is later on haha, two hat kids</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 08:55:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>18,448</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24694633</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/waffluuu/pseuds/waffluuu</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Two blue glowing flowers with a golden ribbon binding them sat in her hand. She found herself slowly losing consciousness as the white around her faded into darkness. She finally gave out, laying in darkness. </p><p>A little star all alone in the depths of shadows.”</p><p>She only wanted to just stay on Earth peacefully with everyone she had befriended. Why did the entire timeline have to be on her shoulders? Why was everything being taken away from her? Peck… time was falling down right in front of her eyes, and for the first time ever, she didn’t know what to do.</p><p>Update Schedule: lol whats that?<br/>This AU is edited by a friend who does not have an Ao3 account.<br/>This story can also be found on Wattpad.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hat Kid &amp; Snatcher (A Hat in Time), Hat Kid/Mustache Girl (A Hat in Time)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>45</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Ribbon</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>beep boop, hope you enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She sat next to the giant window in the hub of her spaceship. The lights were off and her only source of luminosity was a few electronic screens. She wore her signature yellow cape and one of her many purple shirts. Her favorite purple hat, with a yellow ribbon, sat beside her as she looked down onto the bright planet laid in front of her turquoise eyes called “Earth”. Her fingers ran through her hair repeatedly as she bit her lip.</p><p> </p><p>She had such a fun journey on that strange planet, one she could almost call home. She wished it was truly her home instead, for the people she meant cared about her—or, almost all of them. She has gotten used to the planet’s language, but yet she couldn’t really write or read, only use it verbally. That was okay she realized, she had friends who almost tried to kill her, but now they care enough to teach her the native tongue. </p><p> </p><p>She stopped messing around with her hair, and her fingers made contact with the cold glass. She could see her reflection in the glass. A little girl all alone traveling in her spaceship, and her turquoise eyes that were usually filled with cheer. Right now though…</p><p> </p><p>She looked away, not wanting to see her own reflection. She’d rather rethink her journey of collecting the timepieces. From the Mafia to MU, she loved the journey of it all. A smile slowly appeared on her face, a tear going down her cheek from all the nostalgia. It’s so funny really, it wasn’t even that long ago. She sadly chuckled to herself, as her attention was brought to the sleeping Rumbi against the control panel. </p><p> </p><p>How could she ever forget about her space-traveling companion? Rumbi was always there for her no matter what. Even before she got into this crazy journey, Rumbi was there to accompany her during her lonely space travels. She always appreciated everything Rumbi did— from cleaning to letting her stand on his back as she smug danced her heart out. Another tear left her eye, as she wiped it away with her sleeve. </p><p> </p><p>She only had a few timepieces she needed to get back before her spaceship had all the fuel it originally had. Her journey was almost done. She’s been waiting to go home for years—</p><p> </p><p>So why does she want to stay here instead of going where she belonged…?</p><p> </p><p>The question lingered in her mind. She slowly got up, holding her hat tightly. She quickly and quietly went to her room, her small head facing to the left which housed her pool of pillows. She took a deep breath as she put on her top hat and flicked the brim of the hat as a dim light changed her hat from a top hat to her ice hat. She jumped to her pillow pool and activated her ice hat, turning her body frozen for a few seconds as she went down to her candle lit room. She unfroze, tapping the ice hat as it turned back into her signature purple top hat. </p><p> </p><p>Her eyes adjusted to the lit room pretty quickly, her eyes landing on the open book laid on the little brown desk, accompanied by the timepiece statue. She waddled over to the book as her small hands gripped onto the sides of the hardcover of her diary, examining it. </p><p> </p><p>She flipped through the pages, skimming through and recalling every single day of her adventure. She was only just a kid, and yet she made so much impact on the planet in less than a year. She formed a small, sad smile on her face, realizing her burning desire to stay here. It felt so good to be here, her soul yearned for the freedom that she had here. </p><p> </p><p>Back at home through… she was treated just like her age. Stay at home… go to school… study... That was so boring for her! She couldn’t have lived there anymore like that. She wanted the taste of adventure. She would rather get her soul taken by Snatcher and still have freedom roaming around instead of staying home with her soul. </p><p> </p><p>It’s why she stole this ship and some timepieces to explore the galaxy. At least she knew how to control the spaceship by the time she stole it thanks to her mentor. Everyone at home probably thought she was dead. </p><p> </p><p>“I… I don’t wanna go back,” she told herself in a small, quiet voice. If she ever did… she was done for. She loved her life out here in the galaxy. If she had never left Earth, she would have probably lived in a city apartment she used to dream of all the time when she was done with school. </p><p> </p><p>She lifted her head up to see the dimly lit light orange ceiling, realizing she loved everything here. Could she really stay here and never come back? It’d be a dream come true for her. </p><p> </p><p>She dropped her diary onto her desk. She smiled to herself, walking into the tiny pillow pile as she jumped up and was back in her bedroom. She swam out of the pillow pile, brushing her outfit off if anything somehow landed on her outfit. She sighed, looking above to see her window, seeing the stars glowing brightly. For a second, she found herself looking at the glimmering stars that accompanied her through everything, acting as a witness to her wild ride through space. She couldn’t help but yawn, realizing her body adjusted to the planet’s day and night cycle. Her baggy turquoise eyes looked to her comfy bed, waiting for her. She ran towards her bed, quickly throwing her hat and umbrella at the drawer as she jumped into her bed, landing on her back. She slowly adjusted herself and wrapped herself in her blue blanket, finding a position comfortable enough to sleep in. As soon as she got comfy, she called it a night as her baggy eyes closed, and she wandered off into her dreams. </p><p> </p><p>.—.—.—.</p><p> </p><p>She woke to a scream sounding familiar and the sound of a timepiece being broken. She started panicking, quickly jumping out of bed. She hastily grabbed her hat and her trusty umbrella and ran out of the room. She flicked the brim of her hat as a bright light turned her hat into her sprint hat. She abruptly stopped in the Main Hall, striking a pose as her hand was on the floor with one of her legs bent, and her umbrella out to scare the intruder. </p><p> </p><p>There were timepiece shards on her carpet. Her favorite carpet, mind you. The remnants of the timepiece were shining brightly, and they looked like little specks of glitter. The wooden case was broken, as the beads were scattered around the carpet. But the timepiece shards weren’t the hatted alien’s concern right now. She dropped her umbrella abruptly, her hands raised to her mouth as her eyes widened. She couldn’t believe it, and how.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, peck…! H-how—“ She couldn’t believe what her eyes were showing her.</p><p> </p><p>It was herself… but different.</p><p> </p><p>Same height, same age. They looked exactly the same. </p><p> </p><p>But she didn’t have a top hat like her, she didn’t have the same outfit as her, she didn’t even have a weapon, she didn’t have the same energetic spark she had when others told her when they looked into her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>The girl had the same hairstyle but she had a ribbon where she tied her hair. It looked like a replica of the one Snatcher gave her when she completed her first rift collapse. She had a purple sweater with a teacup, steam coming out of it in the middle, with dark purple, and pink shorts. She had white stockings with green stripes and pink slippers. </p><p> </p><p>“Why the hell do you look like me?!” Her… the other self screamed. She must have been part of another reality—or timeline. That’s the only thing she can think of and it made sense to her. So… what does she call her then? She didn’t want her other self to have the same name as her, for starters, she doesn’t even have an actual hat unless you counted that ribbon as one. She didn’t want to call her Bow Kid… there’s already a Bow Kid in this timeline. Bowie never came here to this planet though. </p><p> </p><p>“Peck… how do I explain this… Uhm—“ The hatted child paused, thinking of what to say. </p><p> </p><p>“Basically, I’m you! From another timeline. I dunno how you got into my timeline, but I have a few guesses.” She smiled, twirling and bowing while holding her sprint hat to introduce herself.</p><p> </p><p>“There’s… Other timelines?!” Her doppelganger screamed, jumping at the realization. The girl took a quick glance at herself—her other self, terrified but curious.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah!! Well if you <em> really </em> want me to tell you kinda everything, I want to uh… give you a name so I can stop referencing you as ‘my other self’, y’ know?” She replied, looking at her mirror image for a response. </p><p> </p><p>“A name? Aren’t we the same person technically? Shouldn’t you know my—I mean, our name?” Her other self crossed her arms, tapping her foot impatiently for an answer.</p><p> </p><p>“Peck! Don’t do that! You’re going to make more of a mess, that I have to clean up!” Her other self stopped abruptly, looking down at the messy floor.</p><p> </p><p>“Sorry…?” Her alter ego replied.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay... Well, I don’t really want to call you our real name when I show you around the planet. They call me ‘Hat Kid’ around this part of space!” She grinned, flickering the brim of her sprint hat as she threw her hat up into the air. It brightly changed back into her signature purple top hat that matched with her outfit as it floated back onto her head. Her other self’s eyes widened, clapping with amazement.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, no wonder. Wait… why aren’t they calling you our real name? I’m sure they can pronounce it right—“ She cut off her other self’s sentence.</p><p> </p><p>“We aren’t at home.” Was all she said. Her other-self’s eyes widen again, taking a look at her surroundings. She was in a large spaceship with Rumbi sweeping things up, and her large window showed off the planet “Earth”. Her other self gasped, looking back towards the hatted alien.</p><p> </p><p>“Where are we?! And why are we in a spaceship?!”</p><p> </p><p>“Oooh, long story. Here; I’ll give you the shortened version of this one. Basically back at home, I used my spare time to learn how to drive a spaceship. One day I got sick of the stuff, so I stole this spaceship and some… ‘fuel.’ I went to go explore other planets! But then I wanted to go back home. So I was getting there when suddenly all my fuel was gone and floated into this planet called ‘Earth’! Pretty cool, right? So I went on this peckin’ awesome journey to recover my ‘fuel’, and everyone almost tried to kill me! But I kicked all their asses and recovered most of my “fuel”! I still need to go to this place called the S.S Literally Can’t Sink and Nyakuza Metro. They got my fuel still. Oh, yeah! Forgot to say this, but I got hats that have abilities n’ stuff!” </p><p> </p><p>“What…? That’s so different from my timeline?! My timeline is just about sleep, eat, school, study, sleep, repeat! Your timeline is so… Complex…? And why do you sound so calm when you said everyone almost tried to kill you?! I’d be terrified!!” Her doppelganger replied.</p><p> </p><p>“Pfft, I’ve learned to look on the bright side! Besides, almost all those people are my friends now! I’m even BFF’s with one of them! It’s great, you should meet him! But on a serious note, what the peck am I gonna call you…?” She scratched her head with a curious look towards her clone.</p><p> </p><p>“Well… Uhhh… Ribbon Kid…?” Her other self made a toothy grin as her eyebrows furrowed sadly, not knowing what else to call herself. </p><p> </p><p>“Well… maybe I could come up with something! Uhmmm…” She thought real hard when something in her mind clicked. Maybe…</p><p> </p><p>“We could go to Nyakuza Metro and get you some cosmetics there! Maybe the one your most interested in, we could call you that! Like uhmmm… “Flower Kid” or something like that!” The hatted alien bounced up excitedly, her face full of happiness. Her other self scratched her head while nodding slowly.</p><p> </p><p>“O-okay…? You said you’ve never been there before though?” Ribbon Kid asked. Well, guess the hatted child will call her other self Ribbon Kid for now.</p><p> </p><p>“Well yeah! It’s gonna be fun adventuring the metro though! But first, I needa show you to my best friend! I’m just gonna refer you right now as Ribbon Kid since you did say so.” The hatted alien giggled, hopping onto her captain’s chair and punching in coordinations to Subcon Forest. Her ship flew from Mafia Town to Subcon Forest, floating above.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah okay… Is this the right place?” Ribbon curiously and cautiously asked Hattie, as Hattie just nodded excitedly.</p><p> </p><p>With a mischievous grin, Hattie told her plan, “Okay well, we’ll both go down there together but not at the same time.  You will go first, to see him, then I’ll show up!” Hattie exclaimed, her ship zooming in on Subcon Forest. Hattie pointed to a circle that has dark purple outlining it. </p><p> </p><p>“Step in there and wait for him. You’ll be safe, I promise! If you get attacked or something which I doubt, I’ll fight them off!” Hattie grinned while Ribbon cautiously nodded.</p><p> </p><p>“H-how will I land without dying?!” Hattie looked towards her, winking at Ribbon.</p><p> </p><p>“You’ll land without a scratch, I promise.” Hattie smiled as she jumped off her captain’s chair and opened her glass door. She guided Ribbon to the door, telling her the plan one more time. Ribbon nodded, not being very sure that this is safe but if her other self said it is, then I guess she’ll have to trust her other-self. </p><p> </p><p>Ribbon poked her head out the door, seeing the forest in its entirety. She’ll land near the spot her alter ego wanted her to be, and walk towards that spot. Sounds simple, right? Hopefully. </p><p> </p><p>“Good luck!” Hattie smiled, pushing Ribbon off the spaceship. Ribbon screamed for her life, closing her eyes and wavering her arms all over. Hattie just shrugged as this was also her first reaction after she saw all her timepieces fly off to different parts of the planet, but somehow she survived without her umbrella. She’s sure her clone can survive. And hopefully, she could get there before Snatcher took her soul. </p><p> </p><p>.—.—.—.</p><p> </p><p>Ribbon landed on her feet, striking a pose as if it was natural. Weird, she fell off from a spaceship AND survived. On top of that, she posed while landing? She’s never done that before but yet it felt natural. </p><p> </p><p>She saw the outline of the circle, which was where her other self instructed her to be. She skipped along the forest, seemingly feeling scared of everything. She landed on the circle, waiting for something. Her eyes widened as dark purple vines surround her as everything around her turned into shades of purple and the middle of it all was a purple ghost looming over the short girl. </p><p> </p><p><b>“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!” </b>The ghost laughed, its yellow glowing eyes looking over the girl. Strange, this girl looked just like the kiddo with the hat. She even has her similar aura, but still different. Ah oh well, a new contractor with a soul so similar to the kiddo’s. She’s even shaking, terrified! </p><p> </p><p><b>“YOU TOTALLY SCREWED YOURSELF! Nobody gets to go in and out of this forest alive!”</b> Which was mostly true except that one little kiddo with a hat. It was embarrassing that he was beaten by a kid! In front of his minions too! Especially because she used his own attack against him! She’s a clever girl though, he’s got to give credit for her for that. </p><p> </p><p><b>“Tell you what though? That’s right! YOU GET TO LIVE! My last contractor seemingly… disappeared from this part of this planet. Guess YOU get to replace her! AHAHAHAHAHA!”</b> Snatcher laughed again, the girl shaking now more than ever, filled with fear. As the Soul Stealing ghost looked into her eyes… her eyes even looked almost the exact same as the kiddo’s. These eyes though… lacked the energetic spark. The kiddo was a shining star in such a dark place like this. Seems like his new contractor had those same eyes… but lacked the light. It wasn’t the same as her starry eyes. </p><p> </p><p><b>“So tell you what, I’ve got a piece of paper here! Don’t worry about the details! I just need you to sign right here at the bottom.”</b> The contract and the quill appeared, similar to the kid’s first contract. The terrified girl stepped forward yet still shaking, taking the quill when a certain someone interferes. </p><p> </p><p>“Alright, that’s enough! Snatcher, I’m not letting you take her soul.” The kiddo appeared in this somehow, looking awfully similar to the other girl. In fact… they look almost the same. </p><p> </p><p><b>“Oh, it’s you. Can’t you see I’m trying to take a contractor and a soul here, kiddo?”</b> The hatted alien nodded and stared at Snatcher with a frown.</p><p> </p><p>“Disable the trap or I won’t hesitate to show her what I did to you a couple of weeks ago! I will beat your ass again if I have to!” The kiddo crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently. Snatcher groaned, not getting himself embarrassed again. He set down his trap as the threesome returned to Subcon Forest. </p><p> </p><p><b>“What’s the big deal, kid?! I’m already disappointed in seeing you here around these parts. Also, why does this girl look so similar to you?!”</b> Snatcher stared at the kiddo, expecting an answer. The hatted child raised her finger, opening her mouth. </p><p> </p><p>“I’ll explain all of that! Just… don’t take her soul. I can explain if we go to my spaceship. She doesn’t seem very comfortable here. Oh well, I find it fascinating here!” Hattie smiled as Snatcher groaned and snapped his hands as he teleported the threesome into the kid’s spaceship, especially the bedroom part. Ribbon meanwhile was still shocked by what just happened. Did her other self just boss around a powerful ghost?!</p><p> </p><p><b>“You better have a damn good reason for why you’ve pulled me out of my forest.” </b>Snatcher floated and sat in his corner as the two sat beside him in the pillows, getting themselves comfortable. </p><p> </p><p>“I will be honest Ribbon, I kinda set you up there with Snatcher. I wanted to see your reaction. Of course, I didn’t want your soul taken as mine did!” Hattie laughed, while Ribbon stared right back at Hattie. </p><p> </p><p>“WHAT THE HELL?! I trusted you! I thought I was done for!” Ribbon yelled as Hattie laughed even more. Snatcher even joined in on the laugh. </p><p><b><br/>
“I loved your reaction! I loved it all when you were TERRIFIED of me!”</b> Snatcher laughed as Hattie nodded and laughed along in unison. </p><p> </p><p>Snatcher stopped laughing a few seconds later, addressing the elephant in the room, <strong>“Seriously kiddo, why does she look so similar to you?! I kinda thought I was taking your soul again until I saw that she was terrified. I knew you wouldn’t be terrified because you have stepped into my traps plentiful of times. You would’ve gotten used to it.”</strong></p><p> </p><p>“Okay… Well, I do have explaining to do. She’s me from another timeline. I don’t know <em> how </em>, but I saw timepiece shards around her when I first saw her. Peck, I was also surprised when I saw her! But, I do know a timepiece was involved in this, but I don’t understand how. How could she have gotten here?! She doesn’t even know time stuff and spaceships which I find absurd!” There was silence in the room for a minute until Snatcher cleared his throat.</p><p> </p><p><b>”You. Don’t. Know. How. She. GOT. HERE?! You’re literally an expert on Time Stuff, especially with Timepieces!” </b>Snatcher pointed to Ribbon, his face frustrated. Ribbon seemed confused and frustrated—how was she going to get home in her timeline? </p><p> </p><p>“Snatcher, I’m an expert on Time Travel, not Time Stuff first of all,” Hattie said with her famous smug look at Snatcher. Snatcher groaned with a tired look towards her while Ribbon giggled. </p><p> </p><p>“So guys… I’m still here. What does my other self—err… ‘Hat Kid’ mean when her soul was taken?” Ribbon questioned, mainly focusing on Hattie. Hattie smiled and laughed while Snatcher groaned and look away with his arms crossed. </p><p> </p><p>“Well, Ribbon… Snatcher basically took my soul! It was pretty weird. I did his pecking contracts though, which I don’t want to go into detail—“ Hattie paused, looking down and silently going through flashbacks of Queen Vanessa’s Manor. </p><p> </p><p>“Well, then we uhmm… fought. In the end, I’ve gotten my soul back and my timepiece from him.” Hattie said triumphantly, pride in her. Ribbon looked back and forth between Snatcher and Hattie, not believing a single thing but just went with it, </p><p> </p><p><b>”At least you didn’t go to detail…” </b>Snatcher spoke, still looking away frustrated by the two children. </p><p> </p><p>“Ohoho, I can go into detail if you want me to, BFF!” Hattie smiled mischievously at Snatcher, her turquoise eyes staring right into his yellow glowing eyes.</p><p> </p><p><b>”Heck no.”</b> Snatcher huffed out, turning back to the two children with a frown. Hat Kid snickered as she hugged tightly her pillow. Ribbon meanwhile looked around the room. She was in a bedroom, sitting in a large pile of colorful pillows. Her eyes glimpsed at the starry window, then as her eyes looked to the other direction of the room, she saw a blue bed that looked so comfy to sleep in. There was also a closet and a toy chest that matched the blue bed. A desk sat near the toy chest with markers, crayons, and a red box laid on top of the desk. Few colored pictures were hung onto the yellow wall, as her eyes then stopped at the purple door that glowed brightly, a tree with a face in the middle of it all, blinking a bright blue in the midst of the purple door. This bedroom was like her dream bedroom! As Ribbon looked around the room, voices echoed in her ear as her eyes went back to Hattie’s—starry eyes with a spark of happiness and hope. </p><p> </p><p>“What I don’t understand is… How I can go home?” Ribbon smiled sadly, looking down as her fingers carefully brushed through her sideburns repeatedly, biting her lip. Snatcher and Hattie noticed her behavior as Hattie frowned while Snatcher looked at the kiddo. The kid was sad, but also thinking deeply hard on Ribbon’s situation. </p><p> </p><p>“I was thinking… You could come along with me collecting the rest of the timepieces so… I could go home…” Hattie lied on the last part—she was stuttering and hesitant on saying it which Snatcher looked at her in confusion. Fortunately, at least Snatcher knew when she was lying. Ribbon did not know of Hattie’s lie. </p><p> </p><p>“I’m not gonna go h-home though until I find you a way back to your timeline!” Hattie smiled sadly, feeling like she didn’t know how to help her other-self. On the bright side, she could show Ribbon the beautiful yet deadly planet. Hopefully, her other self is a platforming master, otherwise, Hattie’s gonna go to S.S Literally Can’t Sink and Nyakuza Metro on her own. She promised though to buy Ribbon new cosmetics though. After all, these pons she didn’t spend needed to go somewhere other than her small pocket dimension. </p><p> </p><p>“T-thank you…” Ribbon replied a small sweet smile appeared on her lips. It looked so similar to Hattie’s smile… It’s just she’s missing something. Snatcher couldn’t place his claw on it. The kiddo meanwhile just had an aura that brightened everything around her, even the darkest parts of Earth, like Subcon. Snatcher didn’t think she glowed in Vanessa’s Manor—he saw her reaction when she walked out of that manor with the timepiece. Her eyes seemed dull, looking for anything other than that manor. Least that was temporary… Her spark was back. </p><p> </p><p>Snatcher got bored with the subject and reminded himself to give the kiddo a private talk. For now, he changed the subject. ”<b>Kiddo… don’t you have a mess to clean up? Those timepiece shards aren’t gonna clean themselves up. Maybe then you </b> <b> <em>could</em> </b> <b> try to bring it back or something. Oh well!” </b>Snatcher paused, feeling a chill. He ever only gets those when Subcon needed his attention right away.</p><p> </p><p><b>”Well kid, it seems like Subcon needs me. Smell you later!” </b>Snatcher laughed, diving straight into the floor. His presence was gone, and now it was just the two girls again. Though, Snatcher’s hand appeared straight up from the floor and gave a quick wave. Hattie squealed and happily said bye and waved. Ribbon looked straight to her doppelganger. </p><p> </p><p>“... You’re friends with a GHOST?! Nevermind that, YOU’RE BEST FRIENDS WITH A POWERFUL GHOST LIKE HIM?!” Ribbon stared at Hat Kid in disbelief, but Hattie happily nodded. Hattie double jumped off the pillow pool and dived towards the floor before catching herself and landing back on her feet. She turned around to Ribbon, gesturing for her to come down. </p><p> </p><p>Ribbon gulped as she swam down the pillow pool to meet up with Hattie. Hattie hugged her tight catching Ribbon off guard as Hattie squeezed her. Ribbon stood there, shocked by her other self’s actions. She never received hugs or affection back home, and this was certainly the first time in a long time that she did. Nevermind that she, her other self gave her that affection, but she sent it right back and squeezed Hattie tight. Hattie laughed, being the first to let go of the hug which kept Ribbon warmth. She looked directly into Ribbon’s eyes, smiling. </p><p> </p><p>“You needed that. I haven’t received affection either back at home. It’s why… I ran away from home and landed here. I received more affection here— whether that be something trying to kill me or getting hugs.” Hattie explained, letting Ribbon process that affection. When was the last time she ever received that? Probably when she was a lot younger than she is now. She missed that greatly and wanted more. </p><p> </p><p>“Consider that as an apology for uhm… leading you into Snatcher’s Traps. I couldn’t help it though!” Hattie scratched her head, feeling embarrassed and guilt for doing that. Her reaction though was priceless, which made up for some of her emotions. Ribbon crossed her arms while snickering, while Hattie smiled and saw that Ribbon had indeed forgiven her for her mischievous deed. One thing off Hattie’s chest now. </p><p> </p><p>“So…’Hattie’, I guess I know the shortened version of your life. Yet, you don’t even know mine,” Ribbon bit her lip and looked at Hattie as she calmed down and stared at Ribbon, curious of her life story. Hattie led her to her bed as she sat down and pat down the empty spot next to her. Ribbon jumped and sat next to Hattie, taking a deep breath. </p><p> </p><p>“Uh, where do I even start…?” Ribbon nervously laughed while Hat Kid sat, confused. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>my tumblr: waffluuu.tumblr.com<br/>insta: @waffluuu</p><p>hope you have a cool day :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Best Friends</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Ribbon and Hat Kid start to get along with each other :)</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hope you enjoy :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hat Kid was crying.</p><p> </p><p>She was startled.</p><p> </p><p>Ribbon looked at the starry child. Her eyes plead that the story wasn’t true. Ribbon couldn’t deny. How were the two even the same person? One was adventurous and brave; the other was terrified and lonely. No wonder why Hattie’s eyes looked so starry and bright—she was a star that brightens the darkest of nights. Ribbon was part of the darkness. At least, a bright light was here to light the darkest hour of her world.</p><p> </p><p>Please… Please let her feel the happiness she could’ve had. She didn’t want to feel cold and lonely again. She wants to embrace the warmth she could’ve given to others. </p><p> </p><p>Hattie looked at her doppelganger, trying so bad to wipe the tears from her eyes. It only resulted in her purple sleeve being ruined with her tears. Her nose was stuffy thanks to her crying, and she took off her hat. </p><p> </p><p>The room was dark. Even Snatcher’s magical candles couldn’t light up the room. Not even the little star’s light next to Ribbon didn’t light up for once. The same star lit up an entire forest full of monsters creeping every corner and crack as you walked further. The same little star that saved the planet from one another whose desires and dreams were corrupted by timepieces. The same bright star could be seen as a hero to one’s eyes, and a villain to another. The one next to the bright little star—her light already drew to a close before she even landed herself in this timeline. Now, a fallen star was alone in a reality she never belonged. </p><p> </p><p>But her doppelganger—the bright little star could light the way through this dark hour and a way back home.  The fallen star couldn’t stay with the illuminating light. </p><p> </p><p>But at least she could stay for a bit. Hopefully, little Ribbon thought. </p><p> </p><p>The only thing that lit the room was the door that glowed with blue flashing colors. Still dim, so it didn’t make this any better. </p><p> </p><p>All Ribbon heard was Hattie sniffling as she heard sad sounds escape Hattie’s mouth as Hattie cried through the night. Ribbon stared at the dull floor, not knowing what to do. Usually, she’d suck it up and try to calm down. Doesn’t seem like her doppelganger won’t be stopping anytime soon. </p><p> </p><p>Curse you, a gloomy sad tale that forever impacted little Ribbon. She could still remember the shrill screams of the ones she loved before they were all mangled in front of poor Ribbon as she thrashed out yet still trapped. She could still vividly remember the tragic night. It still haunted her to this day. She wished she never witnessed it all. She was begging for her family’s murderer to stop it all. Her poor innocent aura was shattered into a million little pieces, and its absence was replaced by the horror she endured as just a little child. </p><p> </p><p>She remembered the dark room. Fear was in the air and you could smell it. She was trapped in a small metal room with a window to witness the tragedy. She banged on the dirty window, screaming and crying. She closed her eyes, so afraid to see any more of her loved ones being murdered right in front of her. She couldn’t do anything about it, she was so weak and helpless. </p><p> </p><p>She always felt cold and lonely ever since that tragedy befell on little Ribbon. Her loving light extinguished after what she saw. She always had anxiety ever since, so afraid of the world. </p><p> </p><p>“R-Ribbon! I-I’m so s-sorry! I-I should’ve gone through that! Not you!” Hattie tried her hardest to speak while crying in her native language, but Ribbon shushed her doppelgänger quickly.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t want your sympathy or pity. I’ve learned to try to get over it alone.” Ribbon spoke with her voice low. She looked at the floor, feeling like the tragedy had been so long ago. Alas, it still impacted her greatly, but she tried to push it out of her mind to the best of her ability. Ribbon was startled as she felt warms wrapped around her again, as her cheek was against fluffy and soft brunette hair. Her dull eyes looked down to see Hattie hugging her. Ribbon couldn’t bother to hug her back or move herself out of the way. Hat Kid looked up to ribbon, her eyes looking upset.</p><p> </p><p>“You shouldn’t have gone through that alone. No one should do that! Why would you think that… that’s fine…?” Hattie looked at Ribbon who looked down at the floor, sighing. Ribbon lifted her head just a bit to see Hattie’s face.</p><p> </p><p>“No one was there for me back then.” Ribbon let it out, yawning a bit. Hattie couldn’t wrap her head around that. Ribbon was truly alone.</p><p> </p><p>“... But then I lived with a friend who wanted to take great care for me. We’ve been best friends ever since. W-Wait! She’s probably worried sick about me!” Ribbon lifted her head up, worry in her eyes. Hattie jumped backwards, startled. Ribbon panicked as she jumped off the bed and ran towards the spot she first appeared in. She was panting, steering her head to the left to see the vault of timepieces. She quickly ran up the ramp to be close to the vault when suddenly she felt herself slow down. Hattie was quickly going towards her at an ungodly speed, quickly stopping Ribbon from accessing the vault once time resumed normally.</p><p> </p><p>“I can’t let you touch them! Not until we figure out how to get you home safely!” Hattie cried out, her arms stretched out to block Ribbon. Ribbon was desperate— she needed to go home. These… “timepieces” were the ones that got her here in the first place. She was pretty sure she could get back using them.</p><p> </p><p>“Please! She’s waiting for me back home!” Ribbon yelled out, trying to get through Hattie. Hattie pushed her back as she took out her umbrella, her tears falling down the poor child’s cheeks again.</p><p> </p><p>“I c-can’t! Please! I want you to go home badly too! But I can’t let you use my timepieces! Not until we figure out the way back and safely! Trust me, these things are powerful, dangerous, and manipulative! It’s my job to keep both you and those timepieces safe and secure!” Hattie cried out one last time. Ribbon decided it was useless, she would just injure herself trying to get the timepieces. Her doppelgänger just wants to protect her… thats all.</p><p> </p><p>Ribbon backed off, letting Hattie calm down. “O-okay… fine.” The brunette replied, looking towards the big window. A planet looming in the distance as Hattie joined her doppelgänger, a yawn coming out from the tired hatted child. </p><p> </p><p>“Isn’t the planet nice?” The tired girl spoke in a low voice. Ribbon observed the strange planet in front of her, so different from home. She damn knows that her doppelgänger is either freaking strong, or all the people occupying the planet is a bunch of weaklings. </p><p> </p><p>“Yeah…” The girl with the ribbon replied, tapping her fingers against the railing, sighing. The hatted child yawned once again, rubbing her eyes. Ribbon noticed the tiredness in her counterpart’s eyes, as it’s been a long day for the both of them. </p><p> </p><p>“I’m gonna catch some Z’s. Whew… what a long day.” Hattie replied, taking Ribbon’s hand as she forced Ribbon to the bedroom. She let go of Ribbon’s hand as she knocked out immediately at her blue comfy bed. The child that was awake now however, looking to her left side to see the pillow of pools. She strolled on over to the pillow pool, making herself comfortable for a good night’s sleep. The tired girl yawned, closing her eyes and drifting so slowly to her dream. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>.—.—.—.</p><p>“<strong>WAKE UP, KIDDO</strong>!” Snatcher yelled, poking the hatted alien. The alien woke up startled, looking dazed. Ribbon woke up by the sounds of her doppelgänger’s frustration of her bestie waking her up. She kept her eyes closed, eavesdropping the conversation. A laughing Snatcher kept poking the kid as she groaned and yelled like a little 5 year old.</p><p> </p><p>“Snatcher! What’s the matter with you!!!” Hat Kid whined as she jolted up, frustration building up towards her bestie. He’s been doing this for days now, and it seems like there was no sign of stopping except yesterday. </p><p> </p><p>“<strong>Just trying for you to wake up, kid! You should be waking up earlier than your alarm clock, you know? So, be grateful that I am waking you up.</strong>” Snatcher smiled at the hatted child. </p><p> </p><p>“My alarm clock is a perfectly reasonable time to wake up!!” Hattie yelled, her aggravated face caused Snatcher to laugh. She stood there mad for a second before joining Snatcher's laugh and hugging him. </p><p> </p><p>“Morning, BFF.” Hattie chirped.</p><p> </p><p>“<strong>Ughhh… morning, kiddo.</strong>” Snatcher was now the one groaning which caused the hatted child to laugh even more. Snatcher sighed, letting her laugh. Damn, he grew a soft spot for her. </p><p> </p><p>Ribbon erupted a loud yawn, startling the two who were awake. Hattie quickly grabbed her umbrella and opened it to shield herself. Snatcher looked at his contractually obligated BFF with a “what the peck” face, staring at her. Ribbon’s eyes fluttered open and traced themselves to Snatcher and Hat Kid. </p><p> </p><p>“Oh peck, it’s you! I thought that was a dream!” Hat Kid lowered her umbrella and set it next to her bed, hugging her doppelgänger while proudly holding a cheerful smile. Ribbon froze up for a second, staring at Snatcher for help. He just smirked at her, chuckling to himself. Hattie quickly let go of the hug, hopping out of bed and going into her closet. She threw out clothes that now filled her once empty closet as she groaned to herself trying to find something. Snatcher sat next to Ribbon in which they both stared at the frustrated tiny alien. An alarm clock then rang which threw the kiddo onto the floor, shrieking at the sudden alarm before realizing. Ribbon was also caught off guard, not much like her doppelgänger though as Snatcher sighed, summoning a blue potion and throwing it to the kid’s alarm clock which then broke. </p><p> </p><p>“Snatcher!!” Hattie then groaned once again, finally grabbing her regular laundried outfit out of her closet and slamming its doors loud. She stomped out of her bedroom in frustration as she murmured things like “... this is my spaceship!, why are they so mean sometimes?!” and “what the peck…”. Snatcher laughed at her reactions. </p><p> </p><p>“It’s… Snatcher, right?” Ribbon’s voice cut Snatcher’s laugh as his glowing yellow eyes stared at the kiddo’s doppelgänger. </p><p> </p><p>“<strong>You got that right. Try anything funny and I’ll eat your soul.</strong>” Snatcher chuckled while Ribbon laughed nervously, scratching her head while avoiding eye contact with the purple noodle ghost. </p><p> </p><p>“Mmm… I’m just wondering… do you see me the same as my doppelgänger…?” Ribbon bit her lip as she looked back up to Snatcher. He then observed the girl closely, considering her question carefully while his contractually obligated BFF is gone. Instead of her though, it was her mirror image. </p><p> </p><p>“<strong>Honestly… I don’t. Now stop asking me questions. I would say ‘Get Lost’ but you don’t even know where the hell you are.</strong>” Snatcher groaned as he opened his hand, a blue fire blazing as it summoned a book. She looked at the cover of the book and saw the title “How to kill kids” with a yellow star being covered in blood. I looked at Snatcher with a questioning face. Wasn’t her doppelgänger his best friend? Why is he trying to murder his best friend— or her?! What if Snatcher killed Ribbon?! It froke the little girl as she went into a little panic, looking at Snatcher. </p><p> </p><p>“<strong>Relax… uh, kiiiiiiiiiiid 2? I don’t know what to call you, so I’ll just call you brat.</strong>” Snatcher laughed, opening the book to chapters 1 and 2. </p><p> </p><p>“H-hey! Why ‘brat!?! There are better names, y’know?!” The girl showed clear frustration, crossing her arms. </p><p> </p><p>“<strong>Because your doppelgänger is a brat and you’re acting like a brat right now. Simple!</strong>” Snatcher smirked, his menacing glowing yellow eyes looking down upon the girl. She gulped but her eyebrows were furrowed in anger. </p><p> </p><p>“<strong>Mad? I wouldn’t care. Your opinion doesn’t matter to me.</strong>” He cackled, as the girl opened her mouth to sat something that she’ll regret, but the doors had opened. They both steered their heads to Hattie, back in her normal and usual outfit. </p><p> </p><p>“S’matter with you guys? My mirror image looks like she’s about to scream at you, Snatcher!” Hattie walked forward to the both of them, slapping Snatcher’s book onto the floor and shutting Ribbon’s mouth up which honestly surprised Ribbon. Hattie wore a smug look and stared at Snatcher.</p><p> </p><p>“<strong>Kid. I don’t think you know who you’re messing with.</strong>” Snatcher looked at Hattie, readying to summon a brilliant blue flame. Hattie smiled and took out a blue potion, as she made it clearly into Snatcher’s view. The spirit immediately groaned in anger, putting his power away. Hattie then smiled and put her blue potion back into her pocket dimension. </p><p> </p><p>“I don’t really think you know who you’re messing with.” Hattie remarked, turning to Ribbon and smiled. Ribbon chuckled as Hattie extended her hand to Ribbon, and Ribbon gladly accepted the offer. Hattie immediately then pulled her out of bed as she led Ribbon to the Main Hall then up the ramp to the kitchen. Hattie was running pretty fast but Ribbon was glad she wasn’t using her magical abilities to enhance her speed, otherwise Ribbon would’ve tripped at least 13 times. </p><p> </p><p>“Woah… what a weird kitchen.” Ribbon muttered under her breath, looking all around the room. She found a cat who was then cooking food which was completely unfamiliar to her. Hattie clapped and cheered, going to the orange tabby cat. </p><p> </p><p>“Morning, CC!” She greeted the cat, but she wasn’t expecting an answer until their breakfast was ready. </p><p> </p><p>“Morning Hon! I’ll look at you in a sec after I’m done cooking the bacon.” CC stayed focused on her cooking, putting the savory bacon onto a plate. She then turned off the oven and served the bacon onto the nearby dining table Hattie recently set up. </p><p> </p><p>“I don’t think you met Ribbon yet, CC!” Hattie called out to Cooking Cat while pulling Ribbon to her side and smiling at Cooking Cat. Ribbon looked nervous as she nervously smiled and said hi, accompanied by a little wave. </p><p> </p><p>“Hon, she looks exactly the same as you! You never told me you had a twin.” CC sat down on the dining chairs along with Hattie and Ribbon as they all started munching on the food which was delicious! Ribbon loved it, it was so new and fascinating to her. It was also pretty savory. Apparently it’s called ‘bacon’ from what the cat ‘CC’ said.</p><p> </p><p>“CC, she is my doppelgänger! She’s from another timeline and she did some weird stuff so now she’s here!” Hattie spoke while trying to eat, which disgusted both Cooking Cat and Ribbon. </p><p> </p><p>“Don’t talk while trying to eat.” Ribbon spoke out finally, looking at her mirror image. </p><p> </p><p>“Uhhmmmm… okay…??” Hattie smiled childishly, getting back to munching on bacon and drinking water after finishing her sentence. What’s with everyone saying that she shouldn’t talk while eating? Even her own doppelgänger!!</p><p> </p><p>After they finished eating, they all drank water and stayed silent for a few minutes, not knowing what to say. Ribbon looked all over the kitchen, examining Hattie’s home. She finally found something odd and strange, and couldn’t believe she didn’t see it before. It was literally big and kind of in the way, being in the middle of the kitchen and all. It was a telescope looking up to the small glass roof. What the heck was a telescope doing in the middle of a kitchen?! Surely there must be some logical explanation. </p><p> </p><p>“Hattie… why is there a telescope in the middle of the room?” Ribbon tapped Hattie’s shoulder and pointed towards the telescope. Hattie then gasped, getting up from the dining table and next to the telescope. </p><p> </p><p>“This is a telescope to view Mafia Town! It’s the place where I first landed after falling from the sky, no biggie.” Hattie chirped, looking into the telescope’s view to see Mafia Town. </p><p> </p><p>“I would scream at that but I realize that you also made me fall from the sky but I landed in that spooky forest where that dumb brute of a ghost lives.” Ribbon crossed her arms and smiled, going next to Hattie. </p><p> </p><p>“Mafia Town is where I first met the girl! She was very polite and sweet to me compared to the Mafia!” CC chuckled while Hattie nodded, smiling. </p><p> </p><p>“Are the Mafia… not sweet and polite?” Ribbon looked at Hattie. Hattie looked at CC then back to Ribbon repeatedly until she and Cooking Cat started to laugh. Hattie tried her best to silence her laugh by putting her hand on top of mouth. </p><p> </p><p>“Not at all!” Hattie finally said as Ribbon gave out a “what the actual heck” face to Hattie. This caused Hattie to laugh even more while Cooking Cat stopped laughing. </p><p> </p><p>“Oh my stars!! We should go to Mafia Town right now!!” Hattie smiled and pointed towards her telescope right in the middle of the room.</p><p> </p><p>“Didn’t you say yourself that the Mafia isn’t nice?” Ribbon questioned, examining the telescope and poking it. Hattie simply smiled and started to use the telescope as she found the area she wanted to land in. She stopped using the telescope, an adventurous look was filled in her eyes. </p><p> </p><p>“Alright, stay here Ribbon! I’m gonna grab my umbrella.” Hattie waved, flicking her hat as it magically turned into her sprint hat. She zoomed out of the kitchen, her doors opening wide. Ribbon sighed with a giggle as she closed the doors then sitting with Cooking Cat in silence, both waiting patiently for Hat Kid.</p><p> </p><p>“What’s it like living here?” Ribbon muttered, catching CC off guard. CC simply stared at Ribbon, very careful of what she was going to say to Hat Kid’s mirror image. Well, this planet…</p><p> </p><p>“It’s… pretty much a wild ride living on this planet is all I got to say, hon.” CC finally replied back to Ribbon. Ribbon then played with her hair, murmuring more things but CC couldn’t quite hear her. </p><p> </p><p>Hat Kid zoomed into the kitchen once again with her trusty umbrella. She threw it up in the air as it did a flip, then caught her umbrella by its handle. She flicked the brim of her sprint hat as it changed back to her classic purple top hat as Ribbon and CC was caught off guard by her, but clapped when she caught her umbrella. She then bowed with a smile.</p><p> </p><p>Ribbon then walked towards Hat Kid, patting her on the shoulder. “Alright… So where is this ‘Mafia Town’ at?” Hat Kid was surprised— her doppelgänger wanted to go on an adventure!! Especially in Mafia Town; the beginning of the hatted child’s journey. This was gonna be exciting and fun, she thought. Both the children waved goodbye to Cooking Cat. They closed the doors behind them, as they heard CC say a sweet goodbye. Hat Kid then climbed on top of the rail then jumped down. Ribbon peaked her head over the rail and saw that her mirror image was fine. Ribbon spotted the ramp from earlier and just decided to take the safest route. She then met up with Hattie by the bay window and the entrance to her spaceship. </p><p> </p><p>Hat Kid opened the door to her spaceship, poking her head out. She looked to the planet, trying to find Mafia Town. Once she found the Mafia filled city, she pinpointed the general spot where she planned to land. Hattie looked back to Ribbon, tightening her grip on her umbrella as she extended her arm out to her mirror image. Ribbon gulped, hesitant at first but took her hand. </p><p> </p><p>“Hold me tight and don’t let go. Maybe don’t look down while you're at it, heh.” Hattie spoke, as Ribbon immediately hugged her tight but not that tight that Hattie couldn’t breathe. Hattie then stepped forward as Ribbon followed her, opening her umbrella outside the door and jumping off the spaceship. She felt Ribbon’s grip immediately tighten around her as they both jumped off the spaceship. She laughed, steering both of them to Mafia Town. They both glided off into the atmosphere of Earth as Ribbon screamed her head off the entire way and Hat Kid laughed a lot. </p><p> </p><p>They both finally reached Mafia Town but not quite the ground yet. When Hat Kid deemed it safe to close her umbrella, she looked at Ribbon and chuckled. Ribbon seemed to stop screaming her lungs off now, looking at the calming town and not its residents. Hat Kid finally thought it was appropriate now to close her umbrella, so she looked at her doppelgänger again for the last time, then closing her umbrella. They were both now falling as Ribbon immediately let go and wailed her arms in the air and Hat Kid was getting ready to strike her pose. They both land in the dump area of Mafia Town where Hat Kid first started her wild crazy journey as Hat Kid striked a pose and Ribbon barely managed to strike one too, wobbling immediately after her last second pose then falling to the floor as her head hit the trash bags for safe landing. </p><p> </p><p>“Oh— uhm, you okay?” Hat Kid turned Ribbon around so she could see her dizzy face. She then extended her arm to Ribbon, offering her the chance to get up. Ribbon after a while took her offer as Hat Kid pulled her up, tidying herself up by sweeping the dirt off her coat and hat. Ribbon did the same as well, then finally taking in her stinky surroundings. This place smells like crap, she thought. </p><p> </p><p>“This place smells like absolute sh—“ Hat Kid shushed her doppelgänger quickly, eyeing the only path in front of them. </p><p> </p><p>“Okay geez, be quiet!! I hear something,” Hattie whispered, lowering her hand as Ribbon stared at her in confusion. Ribbon did stay quiet though, wondering what her mirror image is talking about. Suddenly, a seagull dropped right in front of the two as its feathers were bathed in both the sunlight and red. Ribbon almost screamed, but Hattie yet again shoved her hand to Ribbon’s mouth, agitating Ribbon even more. </p><p> </p><p>As soon as Hattie didn’t hear anything anymore, she lowered her hand from Ribbon’s mouth. “What the actual hell.” was all Ribbon could say. Hat Kid looked back to her doppelgänger and scratched her own head with a guilty smile.</p><p> </p><p>“Welcome to Mafia Town,” was all Hat Kid nervously said. Ribbon facepalmed as she dragged Hat Kid along the only available path in front of them as the sun greeted both the girls. They both stopped at the dead seagull as Hat Kid kicked it.</p><p> </p><p>“That seagull did nothing, I tell ya.” Ribbon let her hands on her hips as Hat Kid simply nodded. </p><p> </p><p>“The Mafia told me that they were fishers and that seagulls kept eating their fishes… so they killed the seagulls so they wouldn’t touch the fish. Pretty dumb, right?” Hat Kid laughed while Ribbon stared down at the seagull, a sad tiny reminder of her past. She thought, maybe now is not the time to think of that. She was probably here for a reason other than a mere accident back at her home timeline, right? Hope was all she had then. </p><p> </p><p>Hat Kid then pulled Ribbon and ran along the path of Mafia Town, occasionally jumping from the left to the right just to platform a little. They did call her the platforming master, after all. Ribbon had a hard time keeping up and she couldn’t believe her eyes when Hat Kid double jumped. She tried it along as well and was just as surprised as 5 seconds ago. Hat Kid clapped, saying that maybe her doppelgänger can become a platform master just like her or something. Ribbon really doubted that. </p><p> </p><p>After all, she wasn’t really the same as her adventurous and brave counterpart, is she?</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>my tumblr: waffluuu.tumblr.com<br/>insta: @waffluuu</p><p>hope you have a cool day :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Broken Glass</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Someone makes a grand entrance at Hat Kid’s spaceship.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>A chilly night sweeped the town filled with Mafia as you could still smell the stuff the Mafia were cooking. It was stinky and disgusting as hell. Hat Kid always tried to steer Ribbon away from them, for she too wanted nothing more than to be far away from their cooking as much as possible. Disgusting, both the children thought. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two passed by a little cave that had a fireplace to warm the one occupying it, though Hat Kid knew who would stay here. She felt always terrible when seeing the blonde little girl or her terrible living conditions. Her food was scarce, and she honestly just wanted to help the poor girl. Whenever she offered to help her, the blonde girl with a mustache rejected, blaming the hatted child for where she was now. It made Hat Kid even more terrible, though she knew the little blonde girl’s words weren’t true. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ribbon pointed to the cave, saying how she felt a little shiver because of the chilly night. Hat Kid shook her head then holding onto Ribbon’s arm, pleading with her eyes to not go in there. Ribbon was confused— it’s just a harmless cave, right? What could potentially happen to them in there that makes her mirror image stay away from? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just… don’t go in there. We can go back into my ship for the night. Besides, it’s starting to rain.” Hat Kid said, putting up her umbrella to cover herself from the sprinkle that was happening. Ribbon’s hair was sprinkled with dots of water on her hair, making her a bit nicer. Alas, more water would make her completely wet and damp. Ribbon sighed, going under Hat Kid’s umbrella instead of the cave. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The rain poured as Hat Kid held the umbrella for both herself and her doppelgänger as they sat down far from the cave in which Ribbon didn’t know what was wrong with it. The moon once bathed them in the beauty of its light now hid away in its fluffy, dark clouds as the rain poured. Hat Kid sighed, while Ribbon stared into her reflection into the water. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hat Kid picked up a pebble and threw it into the water as a tiny splash hit the surface of the water in which it reflected the cloudy day. The rock sinks and disappears into the cold water’s grasp as the rain still poured on into their late night visit into Mafia Town. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ve been thinking about what you told me about your past… and don’t think that I’m trying to pry into your life story—“ Hat Kid paused, gaining the attention of her doppelgänger. Her mirror image’s gloomy eyes looked upon the gaze of Hat Kid, making her feel a little guilty for even bringing that sensitive topic to Ribbon, especially when they both came here to have fun. It seems like the weather gave off other vibes, though. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“... I kinda, uhmm… don’t understand why you trust me with that, y’know? Yeah sure we are literally each other but the two of us are completely different—“ Hat Kid was cut off by a loud splash sound by the deep, calming waves. Ribbon threw her pebble hard into the ocean, grunting as she threw it. Her eyes followed the little pebble’s movements as it slowly sank into the fresh waters. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s just a feeling I had that I can trust myself, yeah?” Ribbon looked at Hat Kid, finally holding the umbrella along with her. Hat Kid chuckled with a small smile, nodding. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Let’s go back to your spaceship, I’m getting tired from this trip. I had a lot of fun though!” Ribbon flashed a smile at Hat Kid, catching her doppelgänger off guard since she didn’t really see Ribbon smile that much. Hat Kid pulled out one of her timepieces which glew brightly in the dark colors of the night. She closed her umbrella and put it away as the rain poured onto her brunette hair. She was honestly fine with wet hair, it was a refresher. Though… she needed to sleep. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She stood up as the timepiece floated above her hand, taking her free hand and grabbing Ribbon. She sighed and looked up to see cloudy skies with rain pouring. She didn’t want to say soaking wet for long, and she, unfortunately, did not bring a raincoat due to Mafia Town being sunny earlier. She looked at her doppelgänger— confusion in her dull eyes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh… hold tight to me. This may come off a little… weird for people’s first times.” Hat Kid chuckled in which Ribbon just chuckled and assured her mirror image that she can handle it. Hat Kid only shrugged, thinking that she isn’t gonna handle this calmly. Ribbon held tight into Hat Kid’s hand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t let go.” Hat Kid said as she looked into the timepiece. She let the timepiece float by itself in all its glory for only a mere seconds before she placed her hand on top of it and flicked her hand up, starting the transportation back to her spaceship. She immediately felt her arm being squeezed as Hat Kid immediately hugged the timepiece as they all started floating up to the spaceship at a fast speed. A white light engulfed their vision as all the girls could see was each other and the timepiece. Hat Kid did best as she could to told tight onto the timepiece as she knew she could lose it very easily as well as holding on tight to Ribbon as peck— Ribbon isn’t a space adventurer like Hat Kid was and didn’t know peck on what to do if she was stranded in space. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They finally ended up back in Hat Kid’s spaceship as Ribbon let go of Hat Kid very quickly. She fell down to the floor panting. Hat Kid quickly put away her timepiece as she helped Ribbon up. She swear she could’ve heard bits of Ribbon screaming her lungs off, but she just mostly ignored her screams as she focused on holding her valuable timepiece. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“WHAT WAS THAT?!” Ribbon screamed, trying to calm down but couldn’t fully comprehend Hattie’s transportation system.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Transportation???” Hat Kid giggled, going up to her timepiece vault and putting her spare timepiece into the vault then shutting it tight. She double jumped back onto the main level of the spaceship, whistling about all the timepiece mess on her carpet. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That wasn’t what I thought when you said—“ Hattie immediately cut Ribbon off. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You said you could handle it!” Hat Kid pouted, crossing her arms as her gaze looked at Earth and not directly to Ribbon’s eye. Peck, eye contact wasn’t her thing right now. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I didn’t mean getting transported across the <strong>damn</strong> galaxy in like, the <em>speed of light</em>!!” Ribbon groaned, stomping around and screeching about the horrid short experience.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It wasn’t the entire galaxy!” Hat Kid looked at the planet even more, thinking it was just a short distance for transportation.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It felt like it, damnit!!” Ribbon complained, crossing her arms now and looking at her doppelgänger. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It was only for a few seconds…” Hattie muttered, but apparently her words are just loud enough for Ribbon to hear. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It felt like <em><strong>forever</strong></em>, Hattie.” She stared into Hat Kid’s eyes before looking the other way, groaning. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well gee if you don’t like using my transportation system then get up here yourself!” Hat Kid entered Ribbon’s vision again with the smuggest look she ever wore. Ribbon was awfully confused and mad at the same time by seeing her famous smug look. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Damn you… Fine. I’ll keep using your <em>tRaNsPorTaTiOn sYsTeM</em>. Only because it's the fastest way to get here besides your ship hovering RIGHT ABOVE Subcon.” Ribbon huffed and crossed her arms. Hattie clapped in excitement and smiled. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>All of a sudden, a pool noodle popped out of the ground. The two girls silenced themselves as they both turned around. Ribbon was horrified, her eyes widened while Hattie had the biggest smile on her face with stars in her eyes. The pool noodle groaned, its eyes opening up and staring at the two. He realized that they were in the middle of the Main Hall in Hat Kid’s spaceship. His glowing yellow eyes then looked at Hattie with mild annoyance. Hat Kid clapped at Snatcher being here and then suddenly started to tackle him with a hug which the ghost was angry at this point. Ribbon stayed silent— her jaw opened. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“<strong>Relax brat, I’m not gonna kill you or anything! Maybe your little doppelgänger with a hat though. I’ve always wanted her soul.</strong>” Snatcher laughed in which Hat Kid smiled, laughing as she slowly took out a blue potion from her hat. Snatcher looked straight at Hat Kid and realized she still had the upper hand. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If you could kill me, sure! Have my soul! I didn’t really need to survive I guess. But don’t take my hat, you peck neck.” Hat Kid stared straight at Snatcher, dead serious on her last statement. Snatcher didn’t really have any intentions of taking her hat— he’d seen the kid’s wrath and didn’t really wanna face it again. He started to tease her though by gripping her hat but not quite stealing it from Hattie. Hattie yet again stared at him, raising a blue potion to his vision even more with her being a little mad. Snatcher chuckled and threw the kid off him as she landed right next to Ribbon. Ribbon yelped and tried to dodge as she thought Hattie was coming straight at her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oof.” was all Ribbon had to say once Hattie landed on the middle of the carpet. Hattie was groaning as she lifted her head up while she heard a laugh of the pool noodle. She instantly shot up and interrupted the ghost’s laugh. She caught both Ribbon and Snatcher surprised when she got immediately back to her two feet. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Snatcher!!” Hat Kid whined, frowning. Ribbon and Snatcher both laughed in unison as Hat Kid switched her hat to a brewing hat. Instead of the normal purple potion, they were filled blue. Snatcher immediately stopped laughing as the kid shook her blue potion aimed at Snatcher. She had a smug look on her face once again as Snatcher groaned in defeat. Ribbon stared at both Hat Kid and Snatcher, awaiting their next move. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ooh— I… uhm… look at the time! We should all go to sleep!! It’s been a pretty long day you guys! Heh..” Ribbon nervously laughed at the end of her statement as both Hat Kid and Snatcher stared at her. Hat Kid still shook her potion but Snatcher opened his claw and a brilliant blue flame ignited in his hand. Both Hat Kid and Snatcher looked at Ribbon again; like two children about to fight each other when suddenly, the two idiots flashed a quick glance at each other with a smirk. Finally, they aimed their deadly weapons at Ribbon. Ribbon immediately panicked. The brunette felt cold sweat run down her face. She rubbed her palms on her shirt, and tried to get onto her feet to run; her legs stayed in place. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hat Kid and Snatcher then laughed while putting away their weapons as Ribbon was trying to calm down. This is what… the second time they bullied her? It was already embarrassing for her to walk right into Snatcher’s traps. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t appreciate being harassed like that you guys!!” Ribbon whined, crossing her arms, like a disappointed mother glaring at two unruly children. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sowwy…” Hat Kid said in an adorable voice which she used to manipulate people sometimes. Although, she rarely uses her adorable voice. Everyone thought she was cute anyways being an alien and all. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mmmm… apology accepted I guess… what about you, Snatcher?” Ribbon eyed the purple pool noodle for an apology. Snatcher sighed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“<strong>You’re not getting some dumb apology from me, brat.</strong>” Snatcher looked at Ribbon, making himself look menacing and large. Ribbon just stared at him with a blank expression, shaking her head in disgust. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And your opinion doesn’t matter, Snatcher.” Ribbon looked up to Snatcher with the same smug look at Hat Kid had. It enraged Snatcher. He was both confused and mad, flying back to the kiddo’s bedroom. Hat Kid and Ribbon both laughed in unison, sharing a quick high five with each other. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Aw peck, that was a good one Ribbon!” Hat Kid cheered while Ribbon scratched the back of her head. She wasn’t really used to being… celebrated for her achievements. A yawn escaped from little Ribbon’s lips, stretching her arms. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ooh… you wanna sleep. Gotcha. Let’s go to sleep then!” Hat Kid clapped and led Ribbon to the only bedroom in the spaceship. They were both greeted by the colorful bedroom palette and plus little dark specs of dark magic flying in the air, letting it be known that Snatcher was present. Of course, he was reading that same book called “How to Kill Kids.” Hat Kid would always laugh at this— if he really wanted to kill her, he should’ve just done it when he took her soul! Now everytime that Hat Kid beat his Death Wish contracts, she seemed stronger and more determined than the last. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Heeeyyyyy Snatchie!! We’re gonna sleep now so don’t mind us I guess?” Hat Kid waved and flashed a quick grin. Snatcher stared at Hat Kid with mild annoyance and shut his book, carefully laying it next to him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“<strong>Don’t call me ‘Snatchie’ ever again, kid. I won’t hesitate to rip your soul out and kill you.</strong>” He immediately teleported to the kid, scaring her. She let go of Ribbon’s hand as Snatcher started to point at Hattie, a wide grin across the pool noodle’s face. Hattie seemed genuinely scared, her eyes widened with a little terror. She hadn’t been scared since two months ago when she accidentally fell onto Snatcher’s traps as he scolded and shouted at her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A sudden feeling then arose from both his mind and his cold, dead heart. He felt.. ah, what did humans call it? ‘Guilt’? The weirdest thing was that he didn’t really feel guilt when trying to kill her in his Death Wishes. Yet, a tiny part of this spooky noodle ghost rooted for the hatted alien to complete his challenges. So… why now he felt guilt?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He dropped his menacing act as he saw Hat Kid’s doppelgänger’s face. Ugh… he forgot her doppelgänger is more fragile than the kiddo herself. He went back to his spot in the corner and picked back up his book, not saying a single word towards Hat Kid or Ribbon. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I— I’m… sorry…” Hat Kid muttered, but the ghost had caught her words. He lifted his head from his book, looking at the kiddo. He hasn’t really heard her say those words lately. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“<strong>No kid, it’s my fault. I kinda spooked you back there.</strong>” Snatcher stared at the kiddo for one last time before digging himself back into his book that… he realized is still the same damn book. “How to Kill Kids”. That didn’t really help his situation right now. So determined to grab this kid’s soul, and yet he felt guilty about making her feel bad. What was wrong with him?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ahem. I wanna go to sleep now.” Ribbon’s voice cut in, catching the other two in the room off guard. Hat Kid scurried about, muttering under her breath, going into her mostly empty closet and grabbing a spare blanket from there. She didn’t mutter a word about the fact that there was a skeleton in her closet as she quickly closed the closet and gave Ribbon the blanket. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nightohaveagooddreamdontlettheghostbite!!” Hat Kid quickly said as Ribbon did not catch anything her mirror image said. Hat Kid then jumped away from her as her hat quickly floated away onto Hat Kid’s drawer while she was jumping and dropped her umbrella which leaned against the drawer. Hat Kid then jumped into bed and buried her head underneath her pillow. The lights then dimmed as the room was now only illuminated by Snatcher’s candles and the door. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Night Hat Kid.” Ribbon muttered, getting herself comfortable into the pillow pool. She wrapped herself in the spare blanket Hat Kid gave her. Hat Kid heard her little goodnight, silently echoing back a good night to Ribbon. A page was flipped as Snatcher read the next chapter of “How to Kill Kids”. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ribbon couldn’t really sleep. Her mind was occupied with what happened earlier back in Mafia Town. The rain was pouring and they had found a cave. The cave was pretty small and had chalk drawings inside such as “Mafia Sabotage” with a numbering system below the words. Next to the chalk drawing was a symbol of a blonde girl with a hood with a mustache. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Why was her mirror image begging for her to not go inside that cave? No one seemed to occupy it right now. Maybe that girl with a mustache did, but she wasn’t really inside the cave, now was she? Ribbon was pretty sure it was going to be okay sitting inside that tiny cave for a while. She even bet the blonde girl with a mustache was nice and let them stay a bit. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her mind pondered a bit on why they couldn’t stay at the empty cave. It was pretty damn warm at the time because it was just cold when the rain poured in Mafia Town. Her mind couldn’t lead her to a conclusion so she just dropped the subject. She just wanted to sleep at this point. She closed her eyes, getting comfortable enough to sleep. She shuffled around in her spot, not quite finding a comfortable spot. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When she couldn’t make up her mind, she groaned as quiet as possible to not disturb Hat Kid’s sleep. Her eyes looked around the room and found Snatcher, still reading through his damn “How to Kill Kids” book. How dedicated is he to kill Hat Kid? Is Hat Kid really that hard to take down or is Snatcher just weak? She really doubted Snatcher being weak though, she just witnessed Snatcher making Hat Kid terrified for a few minutes. Felt like it came straight out of a horror movie back in her timeline. Felt kinda weird and awkward but scary to witness. Glad it kinda worked out in the end between the two. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She closed her eyes, just generally tired in all. She yawned, trying to make herself comfortable once again. As she tried to drift off into her dreams, she opened her eyes instead.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She couldn’t sleep. Damn everyone, why couldn’t she just sleep tonight?!</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>All of a sudden, she heard something. Something off. She looked at Snatcher who was also caught off guard— but yet Hat Kid was still sleeping peacefully in her dreams. Ribbon wondered what the dream was about. Something good, she hoped. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ribbon got out of the pillow pool, still listening to the unusual sound. It sounded like loud footsteps coming from the Main Hall. She heard groans and frustration— a voice of a little girl. That can’t be right. Hat Kid and her were the only children on this spaceship. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> A woosh then played as Snatcher was right beside Ribbon. They both exchanged looks at each other, still hearing the sound of footsteps and frustration. After a few seconds though, Snatcher went through the hall and left Ribbon there. Ribbon quietly followed Snatcher through the purple hall that led to the Main Hall. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She saw Snatcher’s head peak through the door although she didn’t hear the door make any sounds of opening. She stepped closer to Snatcher when she felt a strange and weird feeling being close to Snatcher. She looked at her hand, and realized it was being consumed by the shadow purple of Snatcher. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“<strong>Shut up brat… I’m trying to blend you in with shadows right about now. You aren’t exactly dead, you know?</strong>” Snatcher whispered as Ribbon carefully approached, finally seeing the intruder in the large spaceship that belonged to Hat Kid. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Isn’t there an intruder alert? Why isn’t it playing?” Ribbon whispered, only to be met with silence instead. She didn’t really like silence as an answer. So, instead, she observed the intruder of the spaceship. It was a blonde girl with a mustache, most of her head being covered by a red hood. A golden medallion attached her cape as a whole, a shiny star in the design. The girl was wearing a pink dress with a lavender sash worn right above her hips. She wore blue shoes that matched the clips on her hair, lavender ribbons decorating her hair a bit. Ribbon found it strange that the girl had a mustache of all things, but then she looked right into the blonde girl’s eyes. They were orange, but the look within them was full of evil. Ribbon’s eyes widened. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That girl… she looked exactly like the drawn symbol from the cave all the way back in Mafia Town. A blonde girl with a mustache and a red hood. No wonder why Hat Kid wanted to stay away from the cave. It all made sense to Ribbon now like a puzzle coming together. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The blonde girl with a mustache eyed the big vault in the room. She must’ve known that the timepieces were stored there. That’s why she must be here. What does this girl want with Hat Kid’s timepieces, though? It confused her a lot. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Snatcher… who's this? Why does she want Hattie’s timepieces?” Ribbon whispered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“<strong>We call her Mustache Girl, or MU for short. She should’ve get lost the moment Hat Kid defeated her.</strong>” Snatcher’s tone had anger in it. It got Ribbon confused, but Ribbon guessed that this blonde girl is a… villian. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ribbon saw the blonde girl with a mustache carefully approach the timepiece vault, not wanting to disturb anyone’s sleep. Ribbon backed up, afraid of Mustache Girl’s actions with the timepiece. Snatcher heard Ribbon’s quiet gulp as he looked back to Ribbon. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“<strong>I’m gonna wake the kiddo up. She’s gonna fight that damn idiot while I do a spell that the kiddo will need. You stay here and distract that mustache kid.</strong>” Snatcher whispered to Ribbon as she stepped back from the door. Snatcher returned her appearance back to normal— no longer his shadows hid her from the girl with a mustache. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“B-But I can’t fight! How am I gonna stall her?!” Ribbon quietly pleaded with Snatcher for some type of advice. He sighed and turned his back from the door, getting ready to wake the kid. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“<strong>I dunno… crack a damn joke or something. Once Hat Kid gets here, you gotta hide in the kitchen. I’ll be there to protect you. I’m certain your little clone can defeat that idiot.</strong>” Snatcher replied back as Ribbon stared at him with disbelief. “Crack a damn joke or something”?! Is that all he had in his mind?! What kind of idiot of a powerful, menacing ghost is she talking to?! </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ugh… fine. I’ll distract her. But you better hurry.” Ribbon sighed as Snatcher flew off to the bedroom to wake the kid. Now or never, he thought. Meanwhile, Ribbon gulped, knowing she had to give them time. She cleared her throat, and stepped out of the hall. The door to the Main Hall opened, catching the intruder’s attention. She then called out the intruder’s name, making her move to distract that girl with a mustache. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>.—.—.—.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Snatcher quickly flew into the dim, colorful bedroom. He panted, immediately flying to the sleeping kid’s side. She was peacefully sleeping in her blue bed, hugging a Nomad plushie that resembled the Nomads from Alpine Skyline. Their eyes were bright yellow buttons. It reminded him of his own eyes— glowing yellow that terrified those who entered Subcon. Not this kid though… she was very unusual.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He was wasting time thanks to his little thought. He shook the kid awake quickly, scaring Hat Kid awake. She jolted up with her baggy eyes, mumbling on why he shook her awake. Snatcher silenced the kid with his hand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“<strong>You have an intruder on the ship. They're gonna take the timepieces if you don’t stop them now.</strong>” Snatcher saw Hat Kid’s eyes widen with terror as she quickly jumped out of bed with a yawn, lazily grabbing her trusty hat and umbrella. She switched her hat to a sprint hat, sprinting across the purple hall and going into the Main Hall. Snatcher quickly followed the kiddo.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ribbon was busy stalling Mustache girl as Ribbon threw everything around her that she could throw at Mustache Girl. There wasn’t really much Ribbon could throw, so she dodged to the best of her abilities. She saw in the corner of her vision Snatcher and Hat Kid, in which she nodded and ran into the kitchen. Snatcher nodded back at both Hat Kid and Ribbon, taking a quick swipe at Hat Kid’s carpet though then flying into the kitchen. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hat Kid looked at Mustache Girl, ready to take her down. Unfortunately, she was half asleep so she wasn’t gonna probably perform as well as being fully awake and ready to take someone down. They both stared at each other, Hat Kid taking out her umbrella while Mustache Girl threw punches at the air, not afraid to hit Hat Kid. They both charged right at each other, starting their fight. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>.—.—.—.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ribbon sat down on one of the chairs by the counter the microwave was sitting on. She could hear the battle going on between Hat Kid and Mustache Girl. She was growing anxiety, hoping that Hat Kid would win against Mustache Girl. She looked down at the floor and bit her lip, still hearing insults juggled between the two fighters, as well as groans. Some “Hyahs!” and “Huahs!”. But… something felt wrong. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then Ribbon heard Snatcher groan.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She stared at what Snatcher was doing. He had a tiny pile of some dust in his hands. Shiny dust. That could only be timepiece dust, she thought. He summoned in his other hand two blue flowers, binding them together with his dark magic. Golden ribbons appeared, tying the two flowers and bonding them forever. She then saw Snatcher sprinkle timepiece dust on the two flowers, as a little light glew from them. There was a warm aura around it. Snatcher felt satisfied.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’s that?” Ribbon’s voice cut in as she tried to not think of the battle that was behind the kitchen walls. Snatcher looked at her, levitating the flowers in his claw. He sighed and faced the kid, lowering his claw. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“<strong>Something I think your little clone needs.</strong>” He said in a flat tone, examining the item he had put together. Ribbon stared at the pretty item before Snatcher’s voice cut in once again. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“<strong>Just to be clear, I hate flowers. Don’t ask me why or your little doppelgänger. I never thought I’d be seeing flowers or even consider using them ever again after…</strong>” His voice trailed off as Ribbon stared at the beauty of the item, not realizing he had gone quiet at the end. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uhm… I didn’t quite hear you at the last part?” Ribbon eyed Snatcher while Snatcher just groaned, looking into the kitchen’s circle windows. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“<strong>Doesn’t matter. What matters is that I need this item to touch her damn hat.</strong>” He eyed the hat the kiddo was wearing while she barely dodged Mustache Girl’s punch, using her homing attack to strike her chance against her foe. From his perspective, she doesn’t look good enough to fight. She was half asleep. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hat Kid reached for her hat. Mustache Girl took her chance to strike, and threw a punch at Hat Kid, hitting her  square on the jaw. Hat Kid fell backwards. Mustache Girl knew Hat Kid didn’t give up though, as she saw Hat Kid weakly get back on her two feet, panting. Her foe could see the hatted alien’s baggy eyes. She chuckled, as if she was mocking the brunette. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Snatcher was starting to get afraid for Hat Kid’s condition. She was not doing too well as she could barely dodged Mustache Girl’s attacks. She could barely hit a homing attack, as hitting the mustache kid with her umbrella was hard. Her aim was off thanks to not being well rested, and her homing attack was her only chance to strike. Mustache Girl landed another punch, smirking. Hat Kid screamed in pain, falling onto her plush carpet. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“WE NEED TO GO HELP HER!” Ribbon yelled, quickly storming off the kitchen and seeing Hat Kid badly injured on the plush carpet. It didn’t help that there were still some timepiece shards left on the carpet, making the scene a lot more messier. Ribbon jumped off the railing, approaching Hat Kid fast. Snatcher quickly followed Ribbon, his mysterious item finally touching the kiddo’s hat. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The item turned starting sucking at Hat Kid’s magical hat’s abilities. The hat and the magical artifact itself was glowing a golden hue as you could see the artifact sucking her hat’s abilities. The golden hue dimmed as the two flowers glowed a beautiful blue, signalling that it was done taking all it could take from her hat. It couldn’t take that much due to not much timepiece dust sprinkled onto the magical flowers, but it could still help Hat Kid. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Mustache Girl laughed at all of them, unlocking Hat Kid’s timepiece vault. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Haha! You can defeat me when I had your timepieces by my side, but not when all I’ve got is my damn fists?!” Mustache Girl mocked Hat Kid as a ball of timepieces flew out of the vault. In front of the three on the main floor. Mustache Girl jumped and was under the timepiece ball, making a loud noise when she landed. The timepieces glew a beautiful hue, spinning around in place. The blonde girl smirked, floating along with the timepieces. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“P-Please!! Don’t smash them! PLEASE! I can’t… I couldn’t… take you on earlier! I wasn’t ready!” Hat Kid cried out, fearing for her life, and what Mustache Girl might do with the timepieces. Snatcher yelled and threw a blue flame to Mustache Girl in which she quickly dodged, mocking him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is that what you got? A little flame? Why’s a friendly ghost trying to cremate me?” Snatcher yelled once again, summoning a laser underneath Mustache Girl in which she wasn’t quick enough to dodge in time, but the laser didn’t hit the timepieces. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ooh wow, the ghost finally got a bit of damage done. But… it doesn’t matter.” Mustache Girl took the ball of timepieces. She raised the timepieces up, waiting for Hat Kid’s reaction. Hat Kid was crying, hitting the floor in frustration that she couldn’t stop Mustache Girl. Ribbon was holding Hat Kid, supporting the injured hatted alien to sit up. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Who needs you, am I right? Hope you’ll enjoy this present from me!” Mustache Girl launched the timepieces on the floor, shattering all of them. It caused a lot of commotion as Hat Kid screamed a painful long “NO!”. Snatcher watched as the blonde girl laughed, and saw Hat Kid’s hat. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her Hat’s appearance was changing. White with gold at the end of the cracks formed on her Hat as the ship shaked quite a lot. The cracks on her Hat were glowing as everything was changing. He was surprised and didn’t know how to stop the cracks from forming. He was panicking, he didn’t know what to do! He wanted Hat Kid to be safe, he wanted her to be happy! He started to realize…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He actually cared for the kid.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He quickly looked down at his claw, revealing the glowing flowers. He realized he needed to give them to Hat Kid now. He looked at the poor kid as he slipped the flowers quietly onto her pocket, a dim light shining from her pockets. He was still looking up to see Mustache Girl’s movements, in case she decided to fight them even after the timepieces were doing their work. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ribbon was still supporting Hat Kid, helping her sit up, but she couldn’t comprehend the situation. All of the timepieces being shattered right in front of her. Tears started forming in her eyes, clouding her vision. This couldn’t be it. This must be a nightmare right?! It has too!</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>If it wasn’t… then she couldn’t go back to her timeline.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She screamed, closing her eyes, terrified of seeing anymore of what was happening. She was also terrified for Hat Kid, as she wasn’t doing too well. Hat Kid was forced to see all her hard work shattered right in front of her. All because of Mustache Girl’s greed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>For Hat Kid… she was just so scared. She felt like an absolute failure. For letting Snatcher down… For not getting Ribbon back home. God, it was horrible. She felt so much guilt inside her. She wanted to cry. She was shaking so much. This couldn’t be happening… </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Mustache Girl looked at the trio in front of her, smiling maliciously. She closed her eyes, feeling great for finally setting her plan to motion. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hat Kid’s eyes widened as a bright white light took her vision. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry… for failing you, Mu.” Hat Kid whispered under her breath. She felt something in her pocket, trying to grab at it with what little strength she had left.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Two blue glowing flowers with a golden ribbon binding them sat in her hand. She found herself slowly losing consciousness as the white around her faded into darkness. She finally gave out, laying in darkness. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A little star all alone in the depths of shadows.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>lol oops sorry it took so long</p><p>tumblr - @waffluuu<br/>instagram (more active here) - @waffluuu</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Waking Up</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>As our favorite little alien wakes up, she realizes her life drastically changed.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hat Kid’s eyes slowly started to open to see she wasn’t on her spaceship anymore. The ground felt rocky and cold, and she couldn’t see anything but grey. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, and she finally was fully awake. She jolted up in a frenzy. </p><p> </p><p>Her eyes wandered around where she was as she heard dripping liquid. She turned her head to the right, seeing a vast ocean and grey clouds. She saw that it was raining and noticed herself shivering. She started to get a clue from where she is, but she couldn’t confirm until she turned her head to the left. Her eyes widen, full of disbelief. </p><p> </p><p>Chalk was on the little cave walls, saying something like “Mafia Sabotage” with numbers under it. Her eyes looked then to the chalk drawing next to it, knowing fully now where she was. A picture of herself now appeared instead of what she expected Mustache Girl’s, and she instantly jolted back a bit. Why was she on the cave walls instead of Mustache Girl? </p><p> </p><p>She then sighed, putting her hand on her hat— wait, where was her hat?! It wasn’t on her head anymore, and she felt so cold and weird without it. She quickly tried to look around her surroundings to see if there was any hat, but she couldn’t see her signature purple hat with a yellow ribbon anywhere. She felt like she just lost a part of her identity when it was nowhere in sight. She cowered in the cold, starting to feel so alone and confused. All she could hear was droplets of rain on a dark night. There was no fire to keep her warm. She didn’t even have Rumbi anymore by her side. </p><p> </p><p>Whoever had stolen her hat was going to pay for their crimes. She would take them down without hesitation just like she did with Snatcher— and she was going to be ready this time to fight back. No one could take her hat without seeing her rage. She was going to find them… but how would she when this planet was so big? </p><p> </p><p>She’d guessed right now though, she needed to survive in order to find the person who took her hat. She groaned, looking to the rain once again. She didn’t know what to do— if she went out there, she was going to be soaking wet. She didn’t even have any change of clothing anymore, so she just sat. </p><p> </p><p>She looked at her slightly damaged yellow cape. It was probably from the fight earlier. Ugh, she still couldn’t wrap her head around that Mustache Girl still beat her. It wasn’t even fair! She wasn’t ready and in good condition to fight; she was half asleep during that entire fight until the last moments on her spaceship. She crossed her arms and leaned against the cave walls. She sighed, knowing that the rain won’t be stopping for a while. Maybe later when the clouds clear up could she see her spaceship up in the sky. She then realized there were some things in her pocket. </p><p> </p><p>She dug into her pocket, pulling out whatever she had in there. Hopefully some food. Instead, she pulled out a blue umbrella with stars and glowing two flowers, tied with a golden ribbon. Her trusty umbrella! At least she could defend herself with the weapon she knew how to use and trust. She smiled, taking a grip of her umbrella. It could also defend her from the rain! She put her umbrella away, feeling a little confidence spark back. </p><p> </p><p>Her attention then went to the glowing flowers laid on the floor. It glowed bright and had a warm aura to it. Golden ribbons were tied at the stems and its long ribbon flowed. This could be something on her head for a while. She smiled, putting it on top of her ear. It felt a little nicer already to at least have something on her head. </p><p> </p><p>All of a sudden, she felt like a sudden boost of energy. It felt so familiar to her hat’s magical abilities, but there was just so little energy at the same time. Her mind pondered out for a bit, wondering how could this even have similar magic to her hat? Could it be that it is the same? She didn’t know how to even use this item; it didn’t act the same way as her hat! </p><p> </p><p>Her mind came into a conclusion that she’ll figure out how to use her headpiece along the way to get back her hat. She then stared back into the ocean, her mind also figuring out that she felt something or someone on her spaceship. Her mind also realized— where the peck was Mustache Girl and Ribbon?! </p><p> </p><p>.—.—.—.</p><p> </p><p>Ribbon abruptly woke up hearing a voice with a weird accent, and that the floor was more fuzzy than usual. Did she fall asleep?! How the peck was she on Hat Kid’s carpet and not the pillow pool. Many questions roamed in Ribbon’s mind, but yet her eyes still remained closed, trying to think hard. </p><p> </p><p>Then it hit her. Everything that happened earlier. A bright white light— Hat Kid and Snatcher was with her too. Yet… this voice doesn’t even sound like Hat Kid or Snatcher. Her eyes slowly fluttered open, revealing a girl looking at her. She had blonde hair and a mustache and was wearing…</p><p> </p><p>Hat Kid’s Hat?</p><p> </p><p>What the hell was she doing with Hat Kid’s Hat? And why were there golden cracks on it…? W-Where was Hat Kid and Snatcher anyways?</p><p> </p><p>“AYE! What the hell are you doing on my spaceship?” The voice boomed as Ribbon saw a mouth moving in front of her. This was the girl who fucked up Ribbon’s chance to go back to her timeline. Ribbon wanted to literally punch her in the face but was trying to contain herself. Where was this situation going? She decided to stay quiet for now until Mustache Girl revealed more information so she could play along with whatever the hell she was doing. </p><p> </p><p>She took notice of what Mustache Girl said. Her spaceship? Is she being an idiot right now? This was her doppelgänger’s spaceship. </p><p> </p><p>“Who the hell are you?! Can you respond to me?! You look so similar to…” Mustache Girl’s statement trailed off, although Ribbon had a hunch of what the blonde girl was saying. Hmm… Ribbon thought of a plan. Maybe it could work. She needed more information before her plan swung into action. </p><p> </p><p>“Well if you’re not going to say anything, fine. If you’re trying to steal my timepieces, then I’m gonna have to kick you out.” Mustache Girl crossed her arms, huffing. Ribbon got up and looked around, acting like she just woke up. She stretched and yawned, waving a little ‘Hello!’ to Mustache Girl. Time to set her plan in motion. She could probably deceive the blonde to make her tell where Hat Kid went. At least… first she wanted to go to ‘Subcon Forest’, see if Snatcher’s there. </p><p> </p><p>“U-uhm… I’m your sister? Hello??” Ribbon looked saddened by her “sister” forgetting she existed. Mustache Girl looked physically confused for a second, before clearing her throat. </p><p> </p><p>“O-oh, uh, yeah! Sorry about that… uh?” Mustache Girl went on to try to guess Ribbon’s name. Ribbon honestly wanted to laugh at her because of the ridiculous names she listed off of. She does realize that if Hat Kid is considered alien around here, Ribbon would also be alien here. Mustache Girl was listing off Earth names! Oh well, whatever. She didn’t come close. </p><p> </p><p>“It’s Ribbon, you big dork!” Ribbon faked smiled as Mustache Girl laughed when Ribbon told her name. This girl does know that Ribbon remembered every single bit of earlier, right? She’s gotta be that dumb. </p><p> </p><p>“Y’know… my spaceship kinda died and you rescued me and took me in! You were about to introduce me to your friends.” Ribbon crossed her arms, looking impatient. Mustache Girl groaned and Ribbon could’ve sworn she heard the blonde mutter out ‘She’s such a bitch…’. Oh… the blonde was not getting away with calling her a bitch. </p><p> </p><p>“Where’d you wanna go first,” Mustache Girl replied in a monotone voice, pounding her fist against the large window in the Main Hall. Ribbon shuttered a bit by the sound, but she went closer to the window and tried to find Subcon Forest. Hopefully Snatcher could help her with finding her clone. It’s just… this girl is gonna follow her. Ribbon couldn’t let the blonde be by herself either… she couldn’t let Mustache Girl destroy time even more. </p><p> </p><p>Ribbon pointed to the dark spooky forest on the planet with a little smile. Mustache Girl never went there before, so she’d also experience Subcon Forest for the first time as well. Mustache Girl noticed a problem immediately— it was that she didn’t know how to fly a spaceship. She’d tried to see Hat Kid’s spaceship manuals, but they were all written in some weird scribble of an alien language. </p><p> </p><p>“... Could you fly us to Subcon? I don’t feel a little bit good to drive the spaceship around, y’know?” Mustache Girl looked at Ribbon as she pointed her head towards the control panel. Ribbon gulped, fake smiling and looking over the control panel. She didn’t know how to drive a spaceship. Luckily, she looked down into the planet and it seemed like the spaceship was just close enough to Subcon that they could jump down with no hassle. Hopefully they both didn’t need an umbrella to land, because Ribbon didn’t own an umbrella, and Ribbon also didn’t know if Mustache Girl had an umbrella. </p><p> </p><p>“We’re close enough anyways to jump down into Subcon! I think we can land without any trouble since we are pretty resilient at this.” Ribbon clapped, running towards the door and grabbing the handle. Mustache Girl seemed a bit worried but followed Ribbon to the spaceship’s entrance. Now she’ll be the one frailing her arms everywhere and screaming, Ribbon hoped. She opened the door, holding her hand out to the blonde with a smile. Mustache Girl hesitated but eventually took Ribbon’s offer as they both jumped down into Subcon. </p><p> </p><p>As it turns out, Ribbon’s prediction was mostly correct as Mustache Girl looked terrified going down at the planet from the sky. Ribbon felt like she was getting used to this. They both landed in front of Snatcher’s tree as Ribbon struck a pose and Mustache Girl barely landed. Ribbon laughed at Mustache Girl as the blonde got herself back up and groaned. </p><p> </p><p>“You look like you couldn’t handle it, sis. We’ve done this plenty of times!” Ribbon just had a hard time getting the word ‘sis’ out of her mouth as Mustache Girl crossed her arms. </p><p> </p><p>“What? We fell out from the damn sky plenty of times?!” Mustache Girl looked at Ribbon a bit terrified from the idea of falling out of the sky. Ribbon simply nodded. </p><p> </p><p>Ribbon’s eyes wandered around the dark spooky forest, looking ahead of the path with a clear outline of Snatcher’s Trap. Perhaps she could get Mustache Girl into his trap but this time, no one would be able to save her from getting her soul. She’s just gotta lead MU to the trap… but the brunette herself can’t fall in it herself. She’s just gotta get ahead and make the blonde chase after her. </p><p> </p><p>“Wowie! What’s over there!?” Ribbon gasped, running and jumping down the path. She ran down the path, jumping over the trap as she could hear MU’s footsteps following the girl. She could hear Mustache Girl gasp as the blonde’s footsteps came to a halt, a dark purple engulfing the girl. Ribbon looked back and saw the dark purple vines caging her in and magic being in the works. </p><p> </p><p>“<strong>AHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA! FOOL!</strong>” Snatcher laugh boomed throughout the forest as tree branches slowly moved, some leafs falling off. All residents of Subcon Forest as well as Ribbon could feel the eerie tension in the air, a soul about be taken. Ribbon hid behind a nearby tree, her head poking out to see if Mustache Girl made it out alive but without her soul. </p><p> </p><p>“<strong>Oh, I remember you. You’re truly a damn idiot if you think I can let you get away with Death.</strong>” She could hear Snatcher getting angrier as she could still remember his eyes laying on herself, his glowing menacing eyes. </p><p> </p><p>“I also remember you. Do you know my… title, by chance?” Mustache Girl eyed him in which Snatcher picked her up with a cape as Ribbon could smell a fire. Yet it was Snatcher’s brilliant blue flame surrounding the purple vines. </p><p> </p><p>“<strong>The little blonde with a mustache who changed the world to fucking lava. I might’ve been okay, but you remind me of a certain ice bitch.</strong>” Snatcher growled, throwing Mustache Girl hard into the floor, blue flames surrounding the child. </p><p> </p><p>“I wonder how you recognized me even with this ugly purple hat here.” Mustache Girl shouted.</p><p> </p><p>“<strong>You think the little kiddo’s timepiece magic works on spirits?! Try again, asshole. Maybe those little timepieces are powerful as hell, but they can’t affect everyone.</strong>” Snatcher spat, summoning a quill and a contract. </p><p> </p><p>“The fuck?” Mustache Girl yelled, getting up into her feet and looking at the contract. </p><p> </p><p>“<strong>Sign it or I’ll torture you for every single thing you’ve ever done.</strong>” Snatcher threatened, as Mustache Girl couldn’t really do anything at the moment. She skimmed the contract, scribbling her signature onto the paper. Snatcher smiled, laughing. His tone was filled with anger as he ripped away MU’s soul, flying away into the unknown. MU looked up as she realized what the actual hell she just got herself into. She thought, “Well damn, I think I just sold my soul away to the friendly neighborhood ghost.” </p><p> </p><p>“<strong>Good, good. I’ll start with you very… shortly. I need to tend to something else. Don’t think you can escape my clutches now.</strong>”  Snatcher slowly let down the trap as Ribbon held her breath and ran a little farther, hiding behind the trees. She couldn’t let Mustache Girl know she heard everything Snatcher said.The brunette was panting, finally coming back out after a few minutes, scrambling back to Mustache Girl. </p><p> </p><p>“Sis? Where’d you go?” Ribbon called out, finally seeing MU into view. God, she hated calling MU her sister. But if that’s what it takes to trick the blonde, then so be it. Ribbon ran to MU, panting. </p><p> </p><p>“A-are you alright, sis? You don’t entirely seem too good. Hey, what’s that paper poking out of your pocket?” Ribbon pointed to the paper in MU’s pocket as MU’s eyes widened— there was never a paper in her pocket until now. She took the paper and opened it, revealing it was a contract and her own signature was at the bottom. Shit… this is what she signed? She’d guess, maybe get them over with so it didn’t screw over her plans in the long run. </p><p> </p><p>“G-get rid of the possessed outhouse?” MU eyed her contract carefully, looking at the big red letters spelling out “Your Soul”. Ribbon peeked at the contract, seeing pictures attached to the contract. She could see a little purple hat poking out of the edges of the pictures and a blue umbrella, and she immediately knew this photo was taken during Hat Kid’s contracts with Snatcher. </p><p> </p><p>Both the girls followed the path, eventually ending off in front of the arena, where an outhouse awaited. Ribbon wished MU a good luck (but also quietly hoped that the blonde broke her arm). MU nodded, stepping into the arena. Ribbon waved MU bye, as she knew the mustached girl will take a while. She hid behind the trees as she felt Snatcher’s presence as he popped out of the ground. </p><p> </p><p>“<strong>Hey, brat. Still remember me?</strong>” Snatcher quietly chuckled as Ribbon smiled and nodded. Ribbon’s eyes were full of hope he realized. </p><p> </p><p>“God! I felt so lost! We need to find Hat Kid!” Ribbon quietly begged Snatcher as Snatcher looked around, teleporting both of them to his tree. They both were seated as Snatcher made a little TV out of magic, projecting the battle in the arena. </p><p> </p><p>“<strong>That’s good you still remember your doppelgänger. I know you heard my conversation earlier with the blonde idiot.</strong>”  Snatcher looked at her as Ribbon nodded, her mouth beginning to open. </p><p> </p><p>“Yeah… it’s just— I came to you for help. I need to find Hat Kid. I need to know if she’s okay, Snatcher. MU has Hattie’s Hat!” Ribbon pleaded while Snatcher rolled his eyes. </p><p> </p><p>“<strong>If I were you, I’d start searching in Mafia Town. Careful not to literally shout Hattie’s name out. Her timepieces are powerful and have the ability to… change stuff. So I guess, be careful.</strong>” </p><p> </p><p>“O-okay. I think I got an idea.” Ribbon was thinking of the cave they last saw at Mafia Town with Hat Kid begging Ribbon to not go inside. Ribbon guessed she knew why Hattie begged. Ribbon was okay with that. </p><p> </p><p>“<strong>Once you find her though, tell her to come back to Subcon, you hear me? I trust you to do what I request without a contract to make sure it happens. That doesn’t happen often, you know.</strong>” </p><p> </p><p>“Got it! We don’t need to sign a contract, I think it’s not necessary. Neither is taking my soul. But you know what I’m glad for?” Snatcher looked down at the gleaming Ribbon, expecting an answer. </p><p> </p><p>“<strong>What?</strong>” He finally said, impatient for the answer. </p><p> </p><p>“You took MU’s soul! I’m so glad! I have to call her sis just to trick her. I'm under the influence of the timepieces.” </p><p> </p><p>“<strong>Glad somebody enjoyed the suffering of hers, then! Damn, you’re kinda similar to the kiddo, y’know?</strong>”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m like her clone but different!!” Ribbon crossed her arms, acting a little whiny when something caught both of their attention. Mustache Girl defeated the outhouse. Snatcher teleported Ribbon quickly to the front of the arena which Ribbon was confused at first on how she just got here when a second ago at Snatcher’s. Mustache Girl quickly stepped out of the arena, coughing out blood. </p><p> </p><p>“Oh heck!! What happened to you?!” Ribbon observed MU’s appearance. Her clothing was torn, her hair which was usually tied into braids was now just a big blob of mess. There was a scar on MU’s cheek as well. </p><p> </p><p>“M-my hat kinda helped I guess? Or it just led to more accidents.” MU coughed out— crap! Ribbon almost had forgotten that MU was wearing Hattie’s beloved hat. Ribbon just wanted to fight and get back the Hat, but she knew it wasn’t a wise choice. She herself didn’t know how to fight. She would lose easily to the blonde, as well as blow her cover. Worse case scenario, MU would think Ribbon was actually Hat Kid herself. </p><p> </p><p>Hat Kid’s Hat was covered in glowing cracks which made Ribbon worried. What the hell does this mean?! </p><p> </p><p>“We should get you back to the spaceship!! Maybe fix you up. Then I was hoping… maybe we could go somewhere else next?” Ribbon tried to get the thought off her mind until she found her doppelgänger. She hoped her clone held all the answers to the situation that was happening. </p><p> </p><p>“U-uhmm… okay. How do we get back up, exactly?” MU pointed to the spaceship which was still in the skies. Ribbon pondered for a moment… did they bring any timepieces?? That was the fastest way to travel back into the spaceship. </p><p> </p><p>“You got any timepieces? That’s how we usually get back up into spaceships.” Ribbon chirped in which MU hesitated and stared at the brunette. MU sighed after a while, taking out a timepiece as it levitated into the air. Its atmosphere calms those around it. Ribbon took ahold of the timepiece, feeling the power of them in her fingertips. She extended her hand out to MU’s in which the blonde grabbed it quickly. </p><p> </p><p>Ribbon smirked, happily wanting to see the blonde’s reaction to transportation. “Don’t let go!” Ribbon chirped the same words Hat Kid spoke to the poor girl. Felt kinda like deja vu. MU yawned and nodded, still holding Ribbon’s hand. With Ribbon’s free hand, she flicked her hand up as a bright light engulfed the girls as they felt their feet leave the ground. Ribbon tried hard to act like she was used to this and holding the timepiece tight. MU was shocked— what the peck?!</p><p> </p><p>Seconds later, they were both back in Hat Kid’s Spaceship as MU fell face flat onto the carpet and Ribbon on her feet. She crossed her arms as she saw MU was very close to becoming unconscious. Ribbon sighed, helping the blonde sit up. </p><p> </p><p>“That’s how you— I mean, WE get back into spaceships?!” MU was shocked, brushing herself off and trying to stand on her own two feet. Her Hat almost slipped off her head but MU quickly caught the hat. It was almost like the Hat wasn’t bound to MU, while the Hat could never get off Hat Kid’s head unless she herself took it off. Ribbon simply nodded to answer MU. </p><p> </p><p>“Oh… uhm… I don’t really know how to bandage you up, sis.” Ribbon said in a low voice, trying to sound worried. The truth is, she was fine with the blonde being injured.</p><p> </p><p>“I-I think I’ll be fine. Where’d you wanna go next…?” MU coughed out. </p><p> </p><p>“While you got lost chasing me earlier, I heard those weird purple guys with yellow faces say stuff about a place called ‘Mafia Town’ or something. I wanna go there next!” Ribbon smiled. MU immediately groaned at the words “Mafia Town”. It’s the last place MU ever wanted to be at ever. She couldn’t believe Hat Kid’s sister wanted to go into Mafia Town. </p><p> </p><p>“... Fine.” MU spat out, disgusted at the idea of being in Mafia Town. Ribbon bounced up and down and clapped, looking against the bay window and looking at Mafia Town. Some of the place was covered in dirty grey clouds and she couldn’t see the location of Mustache Girl’s cave. This was gonna be a lot harder, huh? </p><p> </p><p>“Tomorrow though, I feel kinda tired from exploring that forest.” MU yawned and stretched her arms. Ribbon whispered out a disappointed “oh,” but kept her composure. Finding her doppelgänger will be tomorrow then, she’d guess. </p><p> </p><p>.—.—.—.</p><p> </p><p>The soft sound of the pouring rain finally halted for the night. Hattie’s baggy eyes slowly opened as she could herself wrapped in her thin yellow cape as a protection from the cold. It didn’t do that much sadly. </p><p> </p><p>She took a deep breath and slowly got up to observe her surroundings. She was still in MU’s cave, all alone with no food. There was no fire for warmth, and she didn’t know whether or not it was okay to sneak out and grab something to make a small fire or get some food. </p><p> </p><p>Her eyes adjusted to the starry night as she gasped in delight. She took her first step out of the cave, seeing her own reflection in the ocean. She could also see the bright piercing light of the moon reflected in the waters. She smiled, seeing tiny dots also being reflected. It must be the stars tonight, they looked wonderful. </p><p> </p><p>She looked up to the beautiful sky accompanying the town that was a paradise for the Mafia as she saw a different colored dot in the sky. Her eyes widened, realizing it was her spaceship. She fell to her knees, her hand reaching out to the dark sky for her spaceship. She was out of breath, out of words. How could she get back up onto the spaceship without a timepiece? That spaceship was her home, not Mustache Girl’s. Ribbon was also on that spaceship. </p><p> </p><p>The brunette hoped that her mirror image was alright. She whispered a hope, any sign that this can be alright. She just wanted to protect everyone from a dangerous power and only needed 16 timepieces more to get back all her timepieces. Why couldn’t she just get them normally with her trusty hat? Why did this have to happen? </p><p> </p><p>Her eyes traced back to the rocky ground, little pebbles around her. She grabbed one tight and threw it into the ocean with sadness filling in her. For once, she didn’t know how to proceed from here. What was next for her? Was she stuck like this forever, mostly forgotten because of a power that gotten into the wrong hands again? That she failed to stop them for once from using the timepieces? </p><p> </p><p>She threw another pebble into the ocean as it bounced and rippled through the calm ocean waters but she was filled with rage and sorrow. She sighed, knowing that there was no use being angry or sad right now. </p><p> </p><p>So she had gotten up again on her own two feet. She was stumbling for a bit, but eventually stood up. She took out her trusty blue umbrella and gripped on its handle tight, looking up at the spaceship she lived on. </p><p> </p><p>“I won’t give up. Not this time.” She spoke out loud, vowing to return everything back to normal again. Even if it meant she had to fight the blonde again and it had hurt so much to fight her the first time. </p><p> </p><p>“I’m not going down without a fight.” The brunette whispered as her words were lost into the wind of the night sky. </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>legit i am so sorry for not posting lately. i forgot i even wrote this for a while now. </p><p>please forgive me :(<br/>it’ll be really sweet if you left a comment and a kudo :)</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>my tumblr: waffluuu.com<br/>instagram(better way to keep tabs of the story): waffluuu </p><p>thank you for reading and i hope you have a cool day :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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